Celestron International

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Celestron International
Worst factory service I have ever seen, if you send your scope back to them for a problem they don't fix it to your liking they tell you that that's the best they can do. They need to visit Orion for a few days and take notes on customer service cause Celestrons service is the worst I have seen in 30years. I think they were baught out by Tonka not Tasco...If you by a celestron make sure you buy it from a dealer that can service it, otherwise your in for a real strange trip.

Overall Rating: 0
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Celestron International
I emailed both Celestron and Lumicon when I realised my Lumicon Sky Vector, sold to me at the same time as my Celestron 8" Starhopper, could not be attached to the sliding machined aluminium bearings on the Starhopper. All I wanted were some suggestions on how to make it work. This was a couple of years ago, and I haven't heard from either! (I sorted out the problem by making a new lightweight waterproof ply base after the original heavy particleboard became distorted from damp and would not rotate properly. New teflon/formica bearings work as well as the original heavy adjustable bearings, and the Sky Vector attaches easily and works well, but no thanks to either Lumicon or Celestron. See my comments also about the Celestron 8" Starhopper.) P.S. the only reason they scored a 4 is because they have good products.

Overall Rating: 4
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Celestron International
Another coment on Celestron, they don't call back after you call them with a problem. I had two people I know by CR150HD's and had problems out of the box, they waited weeks before the finaly got the problems fixed, and by the dealer not Celestron. I realy wanted to by one of those scopes but when I found out Hands on Optics started to import in and stock The Skywatcher label for Canada I ended up with there 6" scope instead of the CR150HD and its exactly the same scope just $200 less. I feel Celestron spend to much money competing with ad space in Sky & telescope and not enough on customer service and quality control so the end results are you pay 20 percent more for there name but get nothing in return.

Overall Rating: 0
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Celestron International
I had good dealings and service with celestron before they were bought the first time. They went the extra mile, made sure you were happy, etc. Then service and quality went out the window in the 1990s. Terrible dealings with customer service, in fact I never got customer service in the 1990s. I sent a drive corrector back to them for repair twice, they still did not fix it, refused to refund said thats the best we can do. A private indiviual found the problem and fixed it for me.

I wrote to Alan Hale the CEO of Celestron, when I got a defective telescope instead of a working one. Surely he would make it right, especially since it was the C14 and I was a repeat customer, I bought an orange C8 in the early 70s which was great. A hostile reply, and a total lack of regard for the problem is what I got in return, and a threat if I made it public. He also explained the Celestron NO REFUNDS ALL SALES FINAL policy Celestron has.I never saw that in their ads.

Alan pointed the finger at the dealer and the dealer pointed the finger at Celestron, and I was in the middle with a new dead scope. I was told by customer service before I purchased the scope, that they would take it back if I was dissatisfied. After a year of fighting Celestron agreed to take it back, though did not refund all the money, both dealer and Celestron still pointing fingers. Its no wonder that under this skilled and effective leadership Celestron is now owned by TASCO , and Meade stock and marketshare is higher than ever, and Alan and his dealer, with a bad Better Business Bureau record still owe me money. My next scope will be from a foreign country.

Overall Rating: 1
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Celestron International
Faxed them a simple question THREE times and never got an answer.

Overall Rating: 1
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Celestron International
Worst customer service I have ever experienced. Though some of their products are good if problems arise you may be sorry you ever bought a Celestron.. Forget trying to get a response from Alan Hale the CEO. He cares nothing about the customer ever since he sold his company and If you manage to get a response from him it will be a brush off. Its ashame because the company wasn't always like this in the 60s through the early eightys. I give a 0.

Overall Rating: 0
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Celestron International
The best customer service I have experienced.I had an ultima 11 that lost collimation from horizon to horizion.Celestron answered all my e-mails and even returned all my phone calls.I sent the optical tube in for repair.They evaluated the problem and calld me with a solution. Celestron sent me a brand new optical tube assembly which is a varry fine scope.The above took less than a month,Thankyou celestron.

Overall Rating: 10
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45899

Celestron International
Had my nexstar5 slewing problem shipped repaired and returned within two weeks,amazingly fast at no cost to myself.All calls and e-mails were answered the same day.Scope was also collimated and works perfectly,centering objects consistently in fov.Thank you celestron.Rate 10

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Celestron International
Every call I made to the company over the years was returned within 48 hours (At least 6 or more) and always answered my questions promptly and acurately.
I returned one scope for defective optics and they not only replaced the optics but picked up shipping! Why is it that every time I return something or need warranty repair on things over the last 30 years, I have never had a problem, regardless of which company it is. Dozens of times! Could it be that I'm POLITE? Why are all of you having so much trouble? Might it be the customer instead?

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45901

Celestron International
I use to be a faithful Celestron customer till they sold me a factory second as a brand new scope. Customer Service depends upon who you get on the phone, like anywhere else. They need lessons in customer service from Orion, which has a consistent and reliable reputation for service. How many complaints are there on Orion customer service? It approaches 0. You can't say that about Celestron.

As for people you have never had a problem . You are lucky, but you should have some consideration for those of us you have not had an enjoyable experience with the company.

Overall Rating: 0
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Celestron International
I had a bent focus shaft on a C102. Called the dealer who told me to call Celestron. Contacted them by web site and got a response within 8 hours! That response included what part I needed, how much it was including shipping, and how to order it from them. Ordered it the next day and got the new part in the mail in 6 days! This is my only experience with them, but if its any indication, I'm impressed.

Overall Rating: 10
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Celestron International
I had a problem with my Nextstar 8's slewing. I callec them about it and they told me to send it in. A few days later I recieved it back. So I decided to test it and set it on the table and tried to simulate alligning it. The same thing started to happen again. On the repair order it read "Replace Electronics". Now if they replaced the electronics, I don't think the same problem would happen. I decided to try it again. I turned it off and on, and started to slew the telescope to the right. When I let go of the button, it kept on slewing. This basically means another month of no viewing.

Overall Rating: 3
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45904

Celestron International
Some of the worst customer service I have received on any product - astronomical or otherwise. Celestron quality has also slipped dramatically.

My C-150 HD arrived seriously out of collimation - primary and secondary with a shoddy focuser that was not even in proper alignment with the secondary. My first contact with Celestron customer service instructed me how to align the secondary with the built-in corrrector lens. The second call, when this did not work for either me or my dealer, informed me that the advice was incorrect and that the secondary could only be collimated by the factory at my expense.

After seven months, three letters, numerous calls and e-mails to customer service, I got absolutely no reply from Celestron. When I finally did speak to someone in product support, my complaints about my defective scope were useless. They had no desire to fix the problem without charge. My new $499 telescope has now increased in price 20%. So much for a warranty.

As a long-time Celestron customer (I own two other Celestrons), I am shocked and dismayed that they are now Tasco - and the poor quality of their products and service shows it. I will never again buy a Celestron product and will advise others to avoid them as well.

Overall Rating: 2
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45905

Celestron International
Let me take a try at how Celestron runs their business. You get a factory lemon, and Celestron denies all responsiblity to fix or make it right. Alan Hale the former owner has no interest in helping out whatsover. The Celestron of the 60s and 70s is not the Celestron of today. Customer does not matter just how many scopes can they sell. Do yourself a favor buy another brand.

Overall Rating: 0
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Celestron International
After reading all the lousy reviews that Celestron has gotten in this forum, I did not expect to get the absolutely magnificent customer relations that I recently got.

My scope (a modest G5) was still under warantee, and I had occasion to try to tweak the optics, trying to get just a little more out of the tube than I was getting. In my inexperience, I succeeded unly in making things far worse than they were when I had first received the scope.

I called the customer service bureau, got the voice mail, left a message, and the service manager was back to me within an hour. We discussed the problem, he listened to all I had to say, and corrected what mistaken ideas I had had. We agreed that I would think about what I wanted to do next, i.e., send the scope back or continue to try to fix it on my own. After a few days, I decided to send it back. Again, a call to him, voice mail, and he was back to me in about two hours. He agreed to take the scope back, look it over, and decide what to do. I was prepared to pay for the repairs, because at least a part of the problem was something I caused myself. The scope came back to me in three weeks: (one week to go from NJ to California and another week to return, so they had it in their plant for only four or five days). There was no charge. The service manager probably reasoned that the cost to them of repairing whatever damage I had done and collimating the scope up to its full potential was peanuts compared to the good will that his company would gain by treating a me though I, my scope, and my interest in astronomy was important to them. And he is right: If the next scope I buy is something that Celestron manufactures, I will buy from them, just on the basis of the service they have given me this one time.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45907

Celestron International
Had a problem with a 8" Starhopper which is now discontinued and celestrons reply to me was"too bad" and to try discovery that htey could handle the problem(which by the way is a poor primary mirror(celestron claims 1/4th wave but this one is closer to maybe 3/4s wave),its so bad you can see the ripples with the naked eye)all i can say for celestron is they should get the heck out of business before from my reading here they end up with a class act lawsuit on they're hands,you guys have NO idea how badly i wanted to see how far up that reps butt i could shove that 10" tube,My advise to would be future celestron customers would be go to Orion,Discovery,Meade anybody but celestron.In all honesty i think my rating of 1 is giving them to much credit(they got the 1 for at least replying to my call)

Overall Rating: 1
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45908

Celestron International
Got a new FS 80 EQ and the mirror diagonal looked like it was used. Also one of the screws on the back was stripped. I e-mailed Celestron and they responded the same day. Had a new diagonal in 2 weeks. Not too bad for a scope I only paid $160 for.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45909

Celestron International
I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN. ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO I RETURNED A C-90 TO THE FACTORY FOR " CLEANING ". AFTER IT WAS RETURNED IT WAS COMPLETELY UNUSABLE,
IT WOULD NOT FOCUS . NEEDLESS TO SAY I SENT IT BACK OUT TO THE FACTORY TWICE
FOR THEM TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM WHICH THEY NEVER DID . I GAVE UP AND ENDED UP
LEARNING HOW TO COLLIMATE IT . I AM VERY DISSAPPOINTED WITH CELESTRON AND WOULD
NEVER IN THE FUTURE PURCHASE A PRODUCT THEY MANUFACTURED. I EVEN DISCOURAGE
FRIENDS FROM PURCHASING CELESTRON ITEMS. IT IS SAD THAT A ONCE GREAT COMPANY
HAS ABANDONED QUALITY AND NOW JUST WANTS TO FLOOD THE MARKET WITH INFERIOR
GRADE PRODUCT.

Overall Rating: No Vote
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45910

Celestron International
Bought a C-11 with Advanced Astromaster on Astromart, and did nor receive any manuals. I called Celestron, and they made nice photocopies of both manuals and shipped them to me for free. Really nice guy on the other end took care of me. I'll be back!

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron International
The Celestron of today is not the great Company it use to be. They did not answer letters I wrote regarding a defective scope. I feel they misrepresnted their product and screwed me. Stay away from Celestron . You can do better.

Overall Rating: 0
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45912

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